Starting in mid-July, 2006, instructors in the IU College of Arts and Sciences will be asked to suggest answers to the above question. (The invitation to participate in this project can be found at Invitation.)

Responses to the above question will be displayed anonymously, posted as they are received, at Responses

Ongoing attempts to identify and classify ideas and assertions from the above responses:

Ideas and Assertions that might be useful for students to gain experience critically confronting, for the benefit of society

To try to help instructors to come up with suggestions about possible such ideas and asssertions, included below are ongoing attempts to identify and classify topics and questions that were mentioned in the above responses: Topics and Questions

As another way to try to help instructors to come up with suggestions about possible such ideas and assertions, included below are links to topics and issues that IU undergraduates suggested (in previous surveys*) might be important for college graduates to be knowledgeable and able to think critically about, for the good of society and/or humanity:

Environment; Energy
Politics; Government
War; Terrorism; International Relations; History
Economics; Global Economy; Immigration; Unemployment; Poverty
Inequality; Discrimination; Violence; The Criminal Justice System
Sexuality; Gender; Family
World Cultures; Languages; Communication
Religion; The Scientific Method
Health and Medicine
The Media; Technology
Ethics; Abortion; Death; Animal Testing
Education; The Arts
Personal Finance
Miscellaneous Comments

*Students' suggestions came from two surveys that were conducted earlier this year. Information about each survey, as well as students' responses in each one, can be found at:
Link to the Second Survey of IU Undergraduates
Link to the First Survey of IU Undergraduates